We learn about the New ANA Award Chart, we fly with an eagle over Paris, travel to Argentina, check out the cutest baby bats, learn how to ruin your life, and we bang our heads one more time about the amazingly sudden reemergence of the 50k Southwest credit cards and the best since sliced bread was invented…the Southwest Companion Pass.
You can support TBB by shopping with our AMAZON AFFILIATE LINK or click on the Amazon Banner on the right side, thank YOU!
ANA award chart and Southwest earning updates – Miles4More Another good post on the big news of the day!
Amazing Video Of An Eagle With A Camera Soar Over Paris Holy cow, this is what it means to fly like an eagle!
A 4K Timelapse Adventure Through Argentina – The Adventure Blog So beautiful video, just 2:48 mins long.
Inside Look Of The Bat Hospital In Australia That Takes In Abandoned Baby Bats – Memolition Cuteness Alert! These baby bats are way too adorable!
How to Ruin Your Life – The Motley Fool This is a must read. You will thank me later and immediately proceed to apply for every single credit card in my new tab lol. Right, at this point, Delta Points reads this and screams “you see, you see the pimp is pimping again, what a hypocrite!”. Gosh, I love this hobby, giggle me softly, tons!
3 Little Mistakes That Can Sink Your Retirement – Money Excellent article. If it wasn’t I wouldn’t post it here. Just saying. Companion pass is the best. Just warming up now 🙂
Start Now: A Step By Step, Tough Love Guide To Saving For Retirement In Your 20s – Forbes This is a pretty good guide for you youngsters from Uncle George.
Entering Blog Buzz territory…Grab your helmets!
The Shocking News of the day was the sudden reemergence of the Southwest 50k credit card offers. This took everyone by surprise, I almost choked on my Panera coffee when I saw this development and immediately checked my own affiliate links only to observe that they were missing. I immediately wished that my coffee was ouzo instead so I could drink my sorrows away reminiscing about all that lost income I so obviously deserve. Instead, I got up and refilled my coffee cup for FREE and got over it. It appears only one of the four card versions is an affiliate link and it is just a coincidence that they almost all placed the affiliate card offer version FIRST. How conveeeeeenient. Here are some ridiculous headlines, watch the fake excitement and shock of this development which has never happened before lol.
Southwest Airlines 50,000 Point Credit Card Offer is Back! – Deals We Like [just love the spreading use of exclamation marks!]
Starting Today: Get Wooed by Southwest Rapid Rewards Card Refresher – The Frugal Travel Guy NEW ALL TIME LOW! This site NEVER fails to make me shake my head. You know when it is signed by FTG Staff it is because they are embarrassed to put their own name behind this awful content. So, what do they do? Remember, all four cards offer the 50k version but only one is an affiliate version. The nice folks at FTG of course only show the one card that pays them. If this crap does NOT make you angry, are you a zombie? Of course the writers have no control of what appears here as long as they collect their paycheck and keep their mouths shut. And you go to meetings sponsored by this company? Well I won’t…EVER because by buying a ticket I feel like I am endorsing their practices. We all make choices and we live with them. I sleep like a baby every night by the way. Still shaking my head…Unbelievable! Sorry Christine, your SPG article was really good but…
Now is the Best Time To Easily Earn Southwest Companion Pass – Mommy Points You got the message? If you are in the bathroom, STOP. NOW. Proceed to your nearest computer, go to Mommy Points website and apply for this NOW. Best time you hear? And this is why you have templates titled “SWPass50k_Nov13”.
Great Timing for the Companion Pass: 50,000 Point Bonus on All 4 Southwest Cards Is Back! – Million Mile Secrets Yep, template time again. Random photo of the couple again…I will do that too when I get direct links and have this caption: “Me and Mrs TBB flew 2 for the price of 1 to Topeka, Kansas with the Southwest Companion Pass”. In related news. the mother in law and her “rule” is BACK suddenly. It had vanished for a long time. Why? Discuss!
Pros And Cons Of The British Airways Visa – One Mile at a Time Suddenly, we get a detailed review of this card. Why don’t we ever get such reviews for cards that do not pay the site huh? Anyways, why do I bother right? What’s new? What I found remarkable is that the author managed to slip in the BA Visa affiliate link SIX times. Because one or two is just not enough. I guess it must be working for suckers!
You should join the Twitter action so you don’t miss TBB’s tweets…like this one: “I always chuckle when bloggers review the reverse herringbone seat product. I prefer the reverse cowgirl one myself 🙂 ”
Looks like all the mega pumper bloggers got invited to the AMEX Centurion Lounge opening in San Fransisco. I did not get the invite. #sadface #notreally.
Because, online, it is becoming apparent to me…you must
And I leave you with this…
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Just maybe I could be #1?
You are #1!
Second…gold?
No matter the math… that kid should choose a different retail path. There is a good chance that Kmart/Sears may not be around in a decade. At least in our area, Sears actually made investments into their stores to make them more welcoming/updated but the Kmart stores…always looked like 1972. I swear, if someone spilled a slurpee on a floor tile, that square was sticky forever. The atmosphere was just kinda gross, no wonder people stopped shopping there. A few years ago, they closed all the local Kmarts except one…and nobody cared.
Drew’s success appears to have attracted some trolls who are giving him a hard time for a little self-pat on the back. I really don’t get it…I’d rather read a bad post by Drew on any given day than a good “stay Chase-y” post by the Boarding Area Marketing Machine.
The last KMart in Ann Arbor is closing in two months. I think there are not that many left in Michigan. This kid better have another dream lol.
The onilne world attracts haters, you can’t please everyone. Comes with the territory. Everyone is trying to find the next “hit”. As long as fuel surcharges are rampant in ANA I think the program will remain marginal. I could care less about the loss of 4 stopovers…I am just happy to get to my destination in one piece!
Fuel surcharges vs cc pumping, which is worse?
Fuel surcharges are worse if you know the first thing about MS…
It depends 🙂
On the scale…
Or just pick one of 30 sample routes with ANA miles that have no YQ…
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/54287
Thanks.
Or just use a better resource by TIF
http://travelisfree.com/2014/04/15/master-charts-to-avoiding-fuel-surcharges-yq/
Hey, this one does not have credit cards blasted in our faces 🙂
Thanks.
Thanks to Andy who kindly left this comment with the best offers in the TBB cc page:
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® card
Citi® Hilton HHonorsTM Visa Signature® Card (40K is the best now)
British Airways Visa Signature® Card
The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard®
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
The Choice Privileges® Visa® Card (32K is the best now)
Citi® Hilton HHonorsTM Reserve Card
The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard®
Premier Miles & More® World MasterCard®
Only go for the Capital One, Choice, Frontier, & Lufthansa (Premier) cards if you have lost it.
I did not include The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard® ….to mess with the #1 fan of it, you know who you are lol.
Whoops! I thought I saw something amiss in the list so I checked it out. My favorite little airline, Alaska, has a card offer with $100 credit offer which yours does not.
C;mon, BOP! We need to trust that your info is correct! (I hope you were right about my Q yesterday about SWA but, if not, well you know that is 2nd strike!)
Well, blame Andy then 🙂
The current setup I have is crap. And sales confirm it is crap! I have Mile Nerd’s link. You can compare the offers. Yes it is a lot more work. Or you can go to another blog for the nifty direct links I don’t have and I will likely never get because readers like to talk a good game but are too fickle to actually support bloggers who work hard and blog responsibly.
22 cents yesterday, how demoralizing is that!
I am going to pour myself another cup of coffee. Thinking about getting ouzo. Screw it.
Ok, Andy, you are blamed!
Whoopsies! I’ve touted George’s inferior link… Woe is me, woe!
On the other hand, I cought the US Air in time and didn’t post it as it doesn’t have a 10K annual bonus. 1:1. The rest is good, I promise.
I’m curious, George, would it violate your agreement with CC.com if you maintained the list of “recommended cards”?
On the question, I think the answer is Yes!
*I* know that the Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite MasterCard® is the greatest card in history. I don’t need the validation of others.
Noted 🙂
Here is why I want a southwest companion pass. http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/2014/07/wanna-hula-southwest-ceo-says-flights-to-hawaii.html?page=all
This is great! I have about 250k Chase UR points holding….been waiting to transfer out…this helps me be more inclined to transfer out to Southwest and end my ordeal 🙂
What is demoralizing for what you do trying to blog responsibly is:
I go through the 3 TBB revenue sites once in the morning: Still not even a single cc sale, No Amazon orders shipped or new orders—-> big fat zero, Media.net ad revenue ads brought in 22 cents (still so far away from an actual payout!).
This leads me to believe, slowly but steadily, to all this about blogging responsibly, content rules, not pumping is a bunch of crap!
Sure will lead to an easy decision to stop wasting my time reviewing blogs and go to a once a week mega rant and get my life back.
And this is where Ingy and DP gloat 🙂
Thank God for the day job at least!
Maybe Miles Abound saying “do it properly” was right…
I am not complaining….I am just letting you know what goes on in a blogger’s mind. I am sure it was the same thought process as Drew had when he was typing the “Sell out” post.
Shaking my head…
Ingy was right “Pumping pays” and “all what matters is…conversions”.
2 year TBB anniversary in 3 days…Sure helps make decisions about future easier folks! And no I am not going to be a cc pimp like the blogs in the Ignore list, I would rather get Ebola (and meet that cute nurse haha)
Keeping it real. At least help out Drew. Don’t let the pumpers win!
Give it some time. You are expecting too much too soon. Not all of us do our credit cards the minute our favorite blogger gets his links.
I have tested it on my own. I can see my own clicks (not apps) show up. And then someone is messing with me clicking on two horrendous cards: The Visa Black card and some other that I never heard off, Dynamics or something like that.I can see it now…TBB pushing crappy cards lol.
NO other clicks. I am not even talking actual apps. Eye opening!
This.
I was going to click through Cranky Flier’s links….but he lost them before my next round of applications came around.
I have the template ready 🙂
Me too. People were giving Cranky a bit of a hard time when he got them for a half second, but I was psyched. I had been reading his truly awesome content for years and totally wanted to pay him back in some way. Sadly, the affiliate links went away quickly.
Is it “truly awesome” if not present in the two “good” TBB Blog Review Lists? Discuss 🙂
Doe-Eyed Student: Professor, would you mind writing a letter of recommendation for me?
Me: “Oh, what are you planning on?”
DES: “I’m going to apply to [Drexel/Cincinnati/Seton Hall/other lousy] law school, and get a master’s in international relations. The law school rep on campus said that there’s a four-year option to do both. I’m interested in making a difference practicing international human rights law.”
Me: [thinking: “sigh…..”] “Let’s have a meeting at my office and discuss some ideas.”
Keeping it real…
A mega rant once a week – or perhaps twice – may not be such a bad idea. Then you’ll have some free time to come play at The Forum. Don’t lose hope; the holidays are around the corner and your Amazon links will surely get some clicks then.
And while I don’t agree with all of Bluecat’s recent comments, I do agree that most of us have a schedule for apps or just wait until a great offer comes along, at which time we might toss in another app or two for cards we’ve had our eye on. To expect there would be a bunch of clicks the week you put them up was probably wishful thinking.
I peeked at the CC page the day it went up but since I am not in app mode right now, haven’t been back. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be when the time is right.
See ya in PHX!
Elaine,
There have been NO clicks period. 2 clicks, one on the Black Visa card and one on a card I never heard of (oh the horrors). No apps of course.
I never expected a bunch of clicks. If I did I would be doing what Miles Abound was saying 🙂
But not even ONE click on a legitimate card is, like I said, demoralizing.
The format is a huge problems, not easy at all. I get that. But it helps me so I don’t have time to massage the links. But if I get direct links I would spend time doing what the pumpers do to get conversions to….keep them.
Its’ a conundrum indeed. I feel like I am live blogging my inner thought processes about monetization of your blogs. I hope this helps fellow bloggers. It’s a tough cruel endeavor. My life would be so much simpler if I had never started it. But not as educational and…entertaining, that’s for sure.
See you tomorrow. Checked in on my Southwest flight exactly 24 hrs earlier and got me A56 boarding pass! #winning
Have a great time in PHX this weekend, wish I was going. Instead I will be enjoying the hospital food over at OHSU after my angioplasty this weekend. Buzz send me the bar tab.
Good luck at OHSU man!
I am not going to ask about that Avatar….LOL!
You do NOT want the bar tab…Seriously…listen to me!
Gee, man, seriously, give it some time. You’ve had those links up for what–3.5 minutes? Folks who read this blog won’t go around clicking on your links unless they’re ready to apply. And no one is going to apply just to make you feel better unless they’re ready for an AOR. Yes, even though everyone loves you so very much 🙂
And if it makes you feel any better, your 22 cents is still 22 cents more than what my blog is making. 🙁
The 22 cents broke a 6 day string of $0s from the ads sales 🙂
I am under pressure man, look like Mrs. TBB is getting impatient about my latest “obsession”. Not going to post how she described it….but I do see her point that this lasted way longer than we both anticipated…I need to join a support group of bloggers who need to be understood and supported until…victory lol.
Check out some of the latest material (ebooks and stuff) by Mommy Points. I know you can do much better 😉
LOL, now imagine what it’s like to spend your life on a penniless blog when your wife does NOT fly almost ever and has NO interest in your hobby at all (sigh).
Or, in immortal words of George Costanza — please, a little respect. 🙂
Obsession by any other name…
Mine used to do the CVS VRs! And last month I had her look for awards over Christmas…she got so frustrated she hasn’t searched for awards since! Good to hear your feedback, it makes me feel better 🙂
Buzz-
Put the gun down. Slowly. Just ‘cus you have some links doesn’t mean Mrs. Buzz can get out of those Michigan winters. Yet.
But it’s coming. I’m not going to click just for page views. But when I need a card-and I will “need” several in a couple of weeks-I and other savvy readers will look for your offers and, if the best, we’ll hit’em hard.
We’re a high-minded group, and we’re free thinkers too. No 7 card months for us, we know where the quality is presented and how to support it.
Come on, gang; Let’s put our apps where our hearts are. We’re just the guys to do it-
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q7vtWB4owdE
Agreed. If the BestOFfersPatrol would like to tell us all in a couple of weeks about how to do the SWA 2 card schwing for the companion pass, I’ll be reading. *That’s* what’s next on my list….
Thanks guys.
I should have listened to Ingy and worked them newbies 🙂
Just kidding…
Oh shoot, got to do the blog post and pack for Phoenix #WestCoastDO
I’ve been with CC.com for a while and can help you out. You probably have direct links, you just don’t know where to find them (this is where I can help). I checked in 5 seconds after my 24 hour check in opened up and am B25, WTF!? Side note, I’m planning on going standby on an earlier flight. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll just spend the next 2 hours in the AA lounge 🙂
Sounds good, lets try to find some time in Phoenix, thanks!
I usually get Bs…not sure why I got an A…probably not that full flight, it is direct from Detroit
I have a theory on SWA flights. I’m on the SNA-PHX flight that leaves at 5:50pm, so I check in at 5:50pm the day before. There must be other people that are connecting through SNA to get to PHX, for example, LAS-SNA-PHX or SFO-SNA-PHX (assuming it could happen). The LAS-SNA and SFO-SNA flights both leave at 3pm, so most people check in at 3pm the day before. They are subsequently checked in for the SNA-PHX flight more than 24 hours before the flight. This is why I think I got B boarding group, since all the people connecting thru SNA to PHX got to check in early and got A boarding group. Does that theory makes sense?
As for #westcoastdo, I might take Uber straight from PHX to the Kimpton and hang out there, rather than check in to Holiday Inn Express Scottsdale (Into the Nights) beforehand. I’ll cya tomorrow hopefully.
Your theory makes sense to me. Not a Southwest expert by any means. I think posting this question at a Cranky Flier blog post comment will get it answered for sure. I only have 2 Uber credits left. What a great deal…with credits 🙂
Your theory is correct. That’s why you get a crappy boarding number when you are flying out of a city that many other people connect through.